Before The Dawn
by HedwigsTalons
Summary: An undergrad assignment for John, a conversation with Alan, the birth of a ferocious AI.


The room was softly lit, the computer screen in front of him glowing in the gloom. He knew Grandma would probably tell him off and claim he was overstraining his eyes although if she found out he was working at 3am she would be telling him off about more than just his lighting levels.

But this was John's natural environment. He preferred to inhabit the dark of night. The sounds of campus hushed and muted. Occasionally the noise of a group of students returning from a night out in the city would reach his ears but those in his hall were generally a considerate bunch and he wasn't often disturbed.

He concentrated on the task in hand. A simple coding assignment set by his tutor. The task wasn't difficult and he was easily able to work beyond the assignment brief, incorporating of not just the required game theory but also adding in a machine learning feedback mechanism. He might not get extra credit but it would help to keep his GPA up.

The phone on the desk next to him started buzzing, the screen flashing in time to the vibrations. He frowned at the intrusion. Glancing at the name on the screen his frown changed to a look of concern.

Alan.

Wondering what could have driven his youngest sibling to call him in the middle of the night he answered.

"What's up? Is everything ok?" John's voice, devoid of pleasantries and greetings, was full of concern and worry. The note of urgency startled Alan. The young face filling the video screen looked shamefaced.

"Everything's fine. I just wondered if, you know, you wanted to chat. If this is a bad time for you I'll go." The tone of anticipated rejection was plain to hear.

"Alan, it's the middle of the night. If Dad catches you making calls when you should be asleep he will be mad at you. Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Nope. Tomorrow, or rather today, is Saturday so I can sleep in. Anyway, Dad's away. Again. New York I think, or maybe New Jersey. Either way, he is out of town for a few days. It's just me and Grandma here."

So that explained the dejected tone. John popped the phone on a stand that would allow him to stay comfortably in camera range without having to keep hold of the device. He had never been comfortable at making small talk but Alan's loneliness was evident.

As the youngest in a busy household Alan had been immersed into a home of chaotic noise from birth. He was a being that depended on human contact in a way that John had never fully understood. As the years went on the number living in the Kansas farmhouse diminished as first one brother then another moved out to further their education or careers. After that first and most painful loss, the death of their mother, Alan had felt each departure keenly. Now that Tracy Industries was expanding their father was also increasingly absent and so the youngster, barely a teenager, often just had their grandmother for company.

John took a deep breath and steeled himself to be the big brother that Alan needed. It was plainly evident, even to him, that Alan was feeling rejected. He couldn't stop some annoyance seeping through though. He didn't like being disturbed when working.

"So you thought 3am would be a good time to make social calls?"

"It's only 2am here. And anyway, you're awake aren't you?"

"Smart ass." His tone became more affectionate. It was well known by all the family that John was practically nocturnal. If it wasn't for the fact that he had to attend classes he would probably give up on the day time completely in order to immerse himself more fully in the stars. "So, if it's just you and Grandma, where's Gordon?" He asked even though he was fairly sure of the answer.

"Swim competition; some championship over in Europe. I've barely seen him all month. Even when he is here his routine is so locked down he may as well be away. Dad's enrolled him on some virtual tutoring programme so he can keep up his studies between events. He's either in the pool, doing online school or sleeping."

"Yeah, well, olympian in the making and all that. So what have you been up to?"

"The usual. School, tuning my go-kart…recalibrating your telescope." This last was said with a definite smirk.

"WHAT!"

"Chill out. I'll have it trained back on the crab nebula before you get home again. Anyway, it's you who told me about the meteor shower in the first place."

So that explained the late night phone call. Alan had started showing more than a passing interest in all things celestial and John had been happy to encourage a kindred spirit. Or 'space nerd' as Gordon liked to call him. He himself had forgotten the passing meteor shower. His course kept him pretty busy and the light pollution in the city put paid to any recreational astronomy.

A notification pinged up in the corner of his computer screen. Wondering why Alan would be both emailing and calling him at the same time John opened the message.

It looked like Alan had been taking liberties with more than just his telescope. A series of photographs were attached showing the procession of glittering orbs across the black Kansas sky. He knew there was no point even pretending to be cross. His genuine smile at seeing the images had already been captured on camera and relayed back to his kid brother.

"Nice work. You'll have to take some pictures of the moon and send them to Virgil, he needs some inspiration for his latest project. He's putting on a play about Helios and Selene"

It was perhaps cruel to open his older brother up to the inevitable teasing that would follow but John needed something to keep the conversation flowing. Virgil had been on at him to take a more holistic approach to university life and had been encouraging him to try out some of the campus societies on offer at Harvard. As if to emphasise the point that university should be about more than just work he had subjected John to a drawn out description of his own activities with an amateur dramatics group at Denver. Telling Alan was pay back for the hour of his life that John would never get back.

To Alan this was prime sibling ammunition. It didn't matter that Virgil's role within the group was limited to painting scenery and building sets. The next time Virgil headed home on vacation he would have Alan and Gordon (for this snippet would of course be shared) following him around quoting Shakespeare until he was driven to distraction.

Unfortunately for Alan a badly stifled yawn drew the conversation to a close. John had done his duty in offering the company his brother so desperately craved but he also knew he shouldered some of the collective responsibility in parenting the youngster. Alan was summarily dismissed and sent off to bed.

John made a mental note to contact his two older siblings about Alan's loneliness. Their father was working hard to build up the business John didn't want to add another burden to the pile. A few choice words to Scott and Virgil should ensure Alan received more calls and emails than he was currently getting. He returned to his project. His eyes skipped over the lines of code, trying to pick up the threads from where he left off but his mind was wandering with thoughts of Alan, Virgil and greek gods.

He knew it wasn't his best work but as he had already gone beyond the task he decided it was better to quit while he was ahead rather than risk building in a fundamental error while distracted. John opened the course portal and uploaded the code to his tutor's submission page.

An error flashed up. Title field required.

_Empathetic Operating System_

Submit.

John shut down his computer and climbed into bed as the first light of a new day tinged the sky with pink.


End file.
